Carina steps back, nearing me. An action that doesn’t slip by anyone—especially her mother, if the tick of her jaw is any indication. “Avoiding isn’t an option. You heard what Freya told us. We can’t ignore the war.”
“I’m trying to protect you!” Morgan roars in a tone that’d rival a wolf’s. Her eyes flicker white as sparks decorates her hair at the same time winds whips, strong enough to push us over and destroy the room, yet everything remains unmoving.
Protect.
Before I can move, Carina does, throwing up her arms. Water splashes from her palms in a stiff enough wave, it not only breaks Morgan’s magick, but throws her back into the chair. It drenches the floor, but neither witch appears bothered by their house becoming a mess, locked in a silent battle of wills and undiluted rage.
“Holy shit,” Xander breathes, thrilled, but me…I don’t like this at all. I’m torn between letting them argue it out and doing the smart thing by not getting in the middle of a witch fight or doing what instincts demand and taking Carina to safety.
Morgan, panting and soaked, casts daggers at her daughter, meanwhile Carina remains rigid in her stance. “You attacked your mother. Your High Priestess.”
“I attacked my High Priestess because my mother is being selfish, which is everything opposite both of you taught me.” Carina’s tone takes on a strange, deadly calm that reminds me ofmy wolf, right before he leaps on prey. “Being a High Priestess involves making smart decisions. How is not helping the pack smart?”
“I won’t lose you to this,” Morgan replies, her tone softening—pleading—a hesitant calm. Maybe fighting is an everyday-normal for them and that’s why they’ve already moved past it. Fuck knows the pack has some aggressive ways of dealing with one another. “If Twilight Grove is after you, they’ll turn you Dark, like they did Harlow, and I’ll lose you.”
My wolf lurches inside me.Lose her?
Carina gestures to the floor and the water gets soaked up and disappears. “Then it sounds like they’ll keep searching for me, no matter what we do about the pack.”
“We’ll hide you. Across the world, if we must.”
“And spend my life on the run? No thanks. Besides”—Carina glances over her shoulder at me, her purple eyes keeping her promise—“none of this helps Alaric. Wehaveto, Mom. He’s…not well.”
Morgan lifts to her feet again and dries herself with a quick spell, both deeming their fight concluded. She glances at me to say, “There is no helping him, I’m truly sorry. After twenty years of meetings, I’ll admit, Alaric is kind. I never had issues with the pack while he’s been Alpha. But black magick is something else entirely. To remove it, a witch would have to take it into themselves, becoming Dark in the process, and no one here would make that sacrifice.”
Coming here was for Carina more than us, but fuck, I clung to the fragile possibility of good news that’d help Dad and not involve handing Carina to a bunch of sycophants.
“Can we call Harlow?” Carina asks in a tone of helplessness that just about does me in. “She’d be able to take it without issue.”
Morgan grimaces, glancing out the bay window. “Freya was pretty adamant about her staying away.”
Carina’s despair tickles my nose. It’s the closest she and I will ever get to a complete bond. Once chosen and officially bonded, mates can sense one another’s feelings. With us, I’ll only be left with her emotionally charged scent.
That…kind of bothers me.
“Then it’s official, I’m going back.” Carina’s back tenses as she shifts to the right, once again keeping her mother and me away from one another. “If we can’t help Alaric with the black magick, we have to trust Twilight Grove will keep their end of the deal. I’ll return with Ryder and go to them willingly. It’s the only way to help the pack and maybe gain a bit of insight into what’s going on.”
Morgan’s face flushes red, that previous rage quickly returning. “Carina?—”
“Think about it,” she snaps. “This is a blessing in disguise. We have zero clue what they’re doing. Harlow only learned what she was told, and Freya only gave what she was allowed to. Why me? Who’s next? When do they think this war is happening? We know they partnered with vampires, but anyone else? Mom, we havenoidea how to get these answers, but if I’m there with them, I can.”
“Carina—”
“I’m doing this, no matter what you say. You want me to be a High Priestess, but we still need a coven to call home for me to lead. This is a sacrifice I’ll make. Let me help us. Let me save the pack.”
Conan curses. Xander inhales sharply. Morgan looks mixed between fury and astonishment. My wolf is howling to protect her, to not let her anywhere near the idiotic plan she’s concocted.
All while the ground feels like it’s rumbling beneath my feet at the thought of her walking into danger.
Sixteen
CARINA
From the minuteI asked Ryder to bring me home, I suspected, if Mom was unable to help Alaric, this would be how the conversation’s outcome.
So, while masking my anxiety and the fears creeping up that threaten to tie me in a little bow and lock me away from all this, my voice rings firmly, my stance leaving no room for questions.
Fact is, once Twilight Grove sent Arthur and Violet Hartman to murder Emily and John Sinclair and kidnap Harlow, this has all been in play. Harlow was round one of their messed-up games, and apparently, I’m round two. The longer I avoid them, the more people will die or be harmed.
